2023-11-14 23:46:37
‘Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery & Psychiatry’
Updated Tuesday, November 14, 2023 – 22:46
Specific clinical trials, the results of which are reported in the ‘Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery & Psychiatry’, would shed more light on the current benefits of noradrenergics in this neurodegeneration.
Studies have compiled data from people affected by Alzheimer’s in whom brain improvements have been noted. EM Neurology An oral drug against Alzheimer’s recovers communication between neurons and prevents the accumulation of the toxic protein TAU Study 75 regions of the genome associated with the disease have been identified Alzheimer’s
Some of the drugs which are administered for the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) They could also serve to improve some symptoms of Alzheimer disease. This is clear from the preliminary data of an investigation that includes the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery & Psychiatry and in which Alzheimer’s patients who received ADHD medications obtained “a small but significant benefit in the performance of the cognition and brain function“, according to the results.
The team, coordinated by Michael Davidof the Dementia Research Institute, Imperial College London, United Kingdomcheck the results of 19 clinical trials carried out between 1980 and 2021 that include months of 1,800 patients with Alzheimer’s disease or mild cognitive impairment.
The work has focused mainly on the activity of noradrenergic drugsamong which in addition to some antidepressants there are also those that are administered in ADHD such as atomoxetinehe methylphenidate and the guanfacina and that were used to treat alterations of thinking, memory and other psychiatric types in people affected by this neurodegenerative disease.
Alterations in the early phases
These medications focus their action on norepinephrinea neurotransmitter key to cognitive processes such as attention, learning, memory or preparation for action.
Precisely, in the first phases of the disease of Alzheimer’s is when noradrenergic alterations originate, responsible for the development of cognitive and neuropsychiatric alterations. “This fact suggests that the noradrenergic system could be a good pharmacological diana“, David considers.
In clinical trials published between 1980 and 2021, patients with neurodegenerative diseasesmainly aged between 65 and 80 years, who had taken noradrenergics -atomoxetine, methylphenidate or guanfacine-, to potentially improve the cognitive and/or neuropsychiatric symptoms.
Data from ten of these reports assessed global cognition: verbal fluency, language and visuospatial ability, orientation, attention and memory, showing a small positive effect, but significant, on the influence of noradrenergics. Global cognition was measured with the Adas scalewhich evaluates the severity of cognitive alterations in Alzheimer’s.
All these data make there exist “a solid justification for carry out specific clinical trials of noradrenergic treatments in Alzheimer’s disease,” the researchers suggest.
The data about cbehavior and symptoms such as agitation and apathy were evaluated in eight other clinical trials, showing a positive effect of noradrenergics on the rock.
In principle, these findings open a new avenue of research to control, in an early manner, identified patients who may be dependent on these medications.
But, in addition, and according to the research coordinator, they are emerging as a “justification for carrying out specific clinical trials of noradrenergic treatments in Alzheimer’s disease with a appropriate selection of patients, dosage, and drug interactions with other substances”.
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